Viggo Mortensen

Born on Oct. 20, 1958 to a Danish father and American mother, Mortensen was raised in both Manhattan and South America, where he learned to speak fluent Spanish and Danish as well as English. The multi-talented Mortensen trained for two years as an actor at Warren Robertson's Theatre Workshop in New York. Soon after moving to Los Angeles, he landed the role of the captain in a stage production of "Bent," then had a small role as an anonymous lieutenant in the CBS miniseries "George Washington" (1984). Although the actor had been cast in small roles in both "Swing Shift" (1984) and "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985), both performances wound up on the cutting room floor. Mortensen finally made ... Continue Bio >>